Researchers Want Videos of Your Cat for Science

In case you need more reasons to play with your feline companion, now you can do it in the name of science. Researchers want to better understand how cats and humans interact during playtime, and they’re asking volunteers to send them footage to aid in their study. 

As Gizmodo reports, a team at the Animal Welfare Epidemiology Lab at the University of California, Davis, wants to examine how cat owners interact with their pets while the animal is busy with a toy. The experimenters are also interested in learning about different levels of playfulness in various cats. 

The study will be conducted in two parts. First, participants will submit a short video of themselves playing normally with their cats for two minutes; volunteers can send in more than one footage sample if they’d like. The second phase requires a playfulness test: Owners will receive a “standard” toy which they will be asked to move in a “specific way” for two minutes. The instructions from UC Davis state that each play session must be at least 12 hours apart.

Volunteers are required to meet the some criteria to participate in the study: They must be at least 18 years old; reside in the U.S.; and have at least one cat that‘s 1 or older. There aren’t any risks in partaking in this study—aside from the normal risks of feline playtime—and participants may remove themselves from it at any point. 

Gizmodo spoke with Hee Jin Chung, a UC Davis Ph.D. student who wants the study to shed positive light on our four-legged friends. The researcher explained that “cats are one of the most misunderstood animals in a home,” and studying their behavior will hopefully demystify it.

Aside from quality time with your pet, joining the research comes with a few benefits. Participants have the chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card by providing their email address in the survey. All volunteers also get to keep the cat toy sent to them for the second phase of the study.  

If cat science sparks your interest, you can sign up here.

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